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The fastest man on the track is going for a change of pace in 2022.
Ashton Lambie, who set a world record of 3:59.93 in the 4km individual pursuit and then became world champion in the discipline last year, has announced that he’s switching gears to focus on off-road racing this year. The 31-year-old is teaming up with Jukebox Cycling, where he’ll join Adam Roberge, Dylan Johnson, and Alexey Vermuelen at off-road events throughout the country.
Adam Roberge, Phil Gaimon, Ruby West and three others headline new Jukebox Cycling team
Although Lambie’s been dedicated to the track, and more specifically the IP world record, for years, racing gravel and ultra-endurance is perhaps where his true love lies. In fact, it was after his record-setting ride across Kansas in 2016 that Lambie, from Nebraska, discovered riding on a velodrome.
It just happened to be a grass one.
Prior to joining USA Cycling’s national track program in 2017, Lambie competed in randonneur races and long-distance gravel events, like Unbound Gravel and The Mid South. After years of jumping back and forth between the track and gravel, he’ll now be able to turn his laser-sharp focus off-road.
Project Sub-4: My journey to set a world individual pursuit record
Lambie’s first race in the Jukebox Cycling kit will be the XC MTB race at the Sea Otter Classic on April 9. He’ll then attempt fast times at the subsequent races in the Life Time Grand Prix series, which includes the Leadville Trail 100 MTB race and Unbound Gravel.
In addition to the Grand Prix, Lambie will continue to explore the gravel and singletrack around his new home of Houston, Texas, where his partner and former track cyclist Christina Birch is part of NASA’s new class of astronauts.